One Life Ends Another Begins: REWRITE
by Wulvenbeast
Summary: Naruto and Sasuke both die at the Valley of End, but instead of becoming shinigami, Naruto decides to be reincarnated. Now 2000 years later Naruto is a your average teenager except for one detail. He can see ghosts.
1. Chapter 1

Hi everyone it's Wulvenbeast with the beginning of my rewrite of One Life Ends Another Begins.

* * *

Lets begin!

"**NARUTOOOOOOOOO**!"

"**SASUKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE**!"

The roars echoed savagely across the valley as the two clashed next to the waterfall.

They were fighting at the Valley of End, a legendary landmark created by the titanic battle between Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, the strongest pair of ninja ever to walk the Elemental Nations as well as creators of Konohagakure no saito.

Currently a smaller scaled battle was taking place as two genin fought with all their strength to decide one's fate.

This one was Sasuke Uchiha, the only surviving member of the famed Uchiha clan. His proud family all annihilated by one of their own, Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke's older brother.

Itachi had been the pride of the clan, a prodigy unseen since the Yondaime Hokage himself. Itachi had graduated at 7, mastered his sharingan at 8, become a chunin at 10, and become anbu captain at 13.

And then he had gone mad and slaughtered his clan, except for Sasuke who was only 8 at the time. Scarring his younger brother's mind with visions of how he had killed their family had driven Sasuke to live solely for power to kill his brother and restore his clan.

The search for power had driven him to Orochimaru, traitorous nuke-nin of Konoha, and a member of the Densetsu no Sannin, a trio of legendary ninja.

Orochimaru had abandoned the village to continue the twisted experiments that had gotten him kicked out in the first place.

Recently he had infiltrated the village during the Chunin exams and given Sasuke his twisted curse mark along with promises of power.

After the invasion, during which Orochimaru killed the Sandaime, Sasuke began to fall into temptation after seeing his teammate Naruto, who had always been ridiculed as the weakling, the dobe, defeat Gaara, an insane suna-nin who he himself had been unable to defeat.

But later Itachi returned as a member of a mysterious organization known as Akatsuki, who were targeting Naruto.

Seeing his brother after his blond teammate, along with the man telling him he was still too weak had been the last straw and when promised to unlock even more power from his curse mark after being soundly beaten by Orochimaru's subordinates, he had gladly accepted.

Sasuke was a young teenager with black hair and onyx eyes. He had pale skin and an arrogant demeanor. He wore a high collared, navy blue shirt that sported the Uchiha fan symbol on his back with white shorts and shinobi sandals as well as bandages covering his ankles.

Currently his appearance was that of a monster, having been mutated by activating the final level of his curse mark. His skin had turned a pale grey with his hair growing far longer and taking on a blueish tint, overlapping his konoha headband.

The Uchiha's sharingan was activated, being red with the pupil surrounded by a ring with three tomoe. His sclera had blackened, giving his eyes a demonic appearance. And two massive hand-shaped wings sprouted from his back.

He was holding a black mass of lightning in his left hand as he flew across the lake towards his opponent, Naruto.

Naruto Uzumaki was the village pariah, an orphan who had been hated, spit on, belittled, and beaten all his life.

He was hated for being the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, a fox spirit that had attacked Konoha 13 years ago on the night of Naruto's birth.

The Yondaime had been forced to seal to beast inside of Naruto, proclaiming him as a hero for being sacrificed to contain the beast. Unfortunately, the Sandaime had immediately proclaimed Naruto as the holder for the Kyuubi, without allowing the villagers to handle the loss first. This caused a great deal of them to call for the child's death, forcing the Hokage to make a law that kept everyone from talking about the truth of Naruto's secret.

Therefore a massive amount of the people had hated everything about the boy and had tried to hurt him any way they could. Raising the prices for anything he bought, cursing him, beating him, and anything else they could do to make him miserable.

The Sandaime was unwilling to hurt the villagers, telling Naruto they were merely hurting. The boy had looked up to the Sandaime then, being a loud prankster who wanted attention and did whatever he could to get it.

However the boy had eventually stopped trying for one reason. Why should he care about the opinions of people who hated him?

This caused him to become a harder person who was unwilling to take what they would dish out. When someone snarled at him, he snarled right back, when someone hit him, he hit harder, and when he was beaten, he made sure to send someone to the hospital with him.

Naruto was a stocky blond boy with spiky hair and three whisker marks on each cheek. His headband was in the form of a black bandanna causing his mane to spill over his eyes and the sides of his head.

His azure eyes were normally cold and serious, rarely being happy. He was dressed in a plain black shirt with a red spiral on the back and the sleeves of his mesh undershirt reaching his elbows, as well as grey pants reaching his ankles along with black shinobi sandals.

Currently he was also flying across the air towards Sasuke, a sphere of purple chakra in his right hand, clawed fingers gripping it tightly.

His appearance had changed due to calling on one tail of the Kyuubi's chakra so he could battle Sasuke in his new form. His body was covered in a shroud of crimson chakra in the shape of a fox with one tail.

His eyes had taken on a foxlike shape as well as the color turning blood red with a catlike slit for the pupils. His hair had become wilder and more frizzy as well as his canines becoming fangs that poked out from his upper lip along with nails that resembled claws.

They roared each other's name as they charged until finally clashing their techniques together.

"**RASENGAN**!"

**"CHIDOR!"**

White light exploded from the two as the tainted chakra formed into a black ball of energy that radiated power as it grew until it was forcing the waterfall to spill over it.

Naruto thought back to their times as a team, the rivalry they shared, the friendships they made, and the bond that was reluctantly formed.

Sasuke remembered the battles the took part in, the lessons they learned, and also their bond, the bond of those who were broken.

It wasn't enough to keep his chidori encompassed hand from piercing Naruto's heart.

The blond gasped as the pain shot through him. It caused his muscles to seize up for a split second. Causing his rasengan to crash into Sasuke's chest, obliterating muscles, bones, and organs alike.

The sphere vanished as the pair's techniques died down, revealing their forms lying on the ground opposite from each other.

Naruto had a fist sized hole where his heart was, blood pouring from the wound as his vision faded. If you got close enough you could actually see the inside of his body, organs slowing down as his body weakened.

Sasuke's chest had been almost completely obliterated. His shirt torn to shreds as a mixture of blood, bone, and crushed organs flowed from his destroyed upper body. His sight was red and black, like the twisted illusion of his brother's Tsukiyomi technique.

Naruto coughed a wad of blood with a bitter smirk on his face. "Heh. Looks like the dobe wasn't so weak after all," he said, giving a bloody grin.

"P- perhaps not" Sasuke repiled. It was getting dark, so dark. Was this what it was like to die? Had his clansmen felt this sense of tranquility as they passed?

"You know. I always expected death . . . to b- be more frightening than this" he called, spitting a wad of blood.

Naruto's eyes softened. "I dunno really. I imagined . . ." he retched slightly. "I imagined seeing some sort of light. Sounds cliche I guess" he shrugged weakly.

Sasuke tried to laugh, but instead he gave a hoarse chuckle. "I probably would be really angry right now. But instead I have this feeling that everything will work out, you know?"

"Maybe, but I'm just going to go ahead and find out."

"B-beat you there."

"In your . . . dreams te . . . me."

And the last member of the Uchiha clan, as well as Uzumaki, died.

* * *

"Well this is unexpected."

"You think?"

"Shut up dobe."

"Like you could make me, teme."

"I killed you once didn't I?"

"Yeah, and I killed you too so suck it!"

The two had been arguing for the past three hours after waking up in white yukatas each. That wasn't the freaky part. The freaky part were the chains sticking out of their chests and the fact that their bodies were where they had died. At least they had been before Kakashi had swooped in, mourned a bit, then taken their bodies back towards Konoha.

Looking at your corpse, then having your sensei pick up your corpse while you tried to get his attention, and then realizing he couldn't see, hear, or touch you was even more disturbing.

They'd tried throwing things at the man(they couldn't touch any rocks), using jutsu(their chakra was gone), and screaming at the top of their lungs(Naruto had tried 'Look a never-before-seen Icha Icha paradise!'), and nothing had worked.

So now they were reduced to arguing with each other since their was nothing else to do.

Naruto sighed. "This is really lame. Shouldn't there be some sort of gateway, or at least a ferryman of some kind?"

"Now that's cliche. Do you honestly suspect someone to just pop up and send us to heaven?" Sasuke asked sarcastically.

"You got a better idea, chicken butt?" Naruto snapped.

A tick mark appeared across the Uchiha's forehead. "Yeah I have an idea" he muttered. "Kicking your ass!" He tackled Naruto as a fistfight began.

The pair rolled along the ground smashing their fists wherever they could that hurt the other as they shouted insults at each other.

"How ridiculous. I get sent all they way out to crappy location just to find a pair of souls beating the snot out of each other." a haughty voice proclaimed, causing the pair to jump from their violent altercation to find it's source.

It was a tall man, about 7 feet in height, wearing a black hakama and wearing a plain looking katana at his waist. He was quite fat, his stomach stretching the material quite a bit, as he looked at them disdainfully.

His skin was lightly tanned, with a long mop of black hair traveling down his back. He had beady eyes and a large nose, as well as a mustache that looked like it belonged on a stereotypical french villain.

"Who are you?' Naruto questioned suspiciously. His mind was swimming with questions. How could he see them when their own sensei couldn't? Was he dead as well?

The man sniffed pompously. "I am the great Mareshonin of the Omaeda clan! And I have been sent to collect a pair of souls to escort to the rukongai. You should feel honored to have the honor of being sent to the afterlife by such a noble Shinigami such as I!" he declared arrogantly.

Sasuke had a sweatdrop to match Naruto's as they glanced at each other. This guy would escort them to the afterlife? Ridiculous.

He turned to the man. "I really don't care who you are, but I'm curious. You're going to take us to the next world? And you say you're a shinigami? We only have one shinigami here." he stated. How on earth could this man be a shinigami, completely impossible.

Mareshonin's eyes widened. "How dare you say I'm no shinigami! I've had this job for 300 years!" he cried, anime tears falling from his eyes as he ranted. "It's so hard taking souls to the afterlife when they don't respect you! Every other shinigami pays attention to my nobility, why can't anyone else!"

Their sweatdrops doubled in size. Naruto tried again. "What we mean is that we've only heard of one shinigami, what do you mean about the afterlife and there being more of them?" he asked.

"Oh! That's simple" the man exclaimed, immediately losing his funk. "When a person dies, they become a soul called a plus with a chain hanging out of their chests called a chain of fate," he explained. "A shinigami is a purified plus who had spiritual energy and learned to harness it in the form of a zanpakuto, which they use to purify souls before their chain of fate vanishes."

Naruto fingered his chain curiously. "What exactly happens if the chain corrodes before the soul is purified?"

"Well the spirit will become an evil ghost which preys on souls to become stronger, also known as a hollow. A hollow hole forms where the chain was and the spirit becomes a monster basically," the man shrugged. "It's sad, but it happens quite a bit actually. We slay hollows to preserve the balance. Our zanpakuto purify them, but there's no return for the souls a hollow devours, unfortunately."

The pair's eyes widened before they took this information in. There was an afterlife full of souls that were guarded by souls with supernatural powers that they used to purify evil spirits while guarding the world of the living. Wow, it made them feel quite insignificant.

"So I'm going to guess that sword is your zanpakuto?" Sasuke questioned, not seeing anything else that could be identified as the man's weapon.

Mareshino nodded. "And I have been sent to take you two to the rukongai. If you accept, you'll be citizens, or you may even become shinigami. Judging by your reiatsu levels, it doesn't seem unlikely in fact."

"You said 'if you accept'. Does that mean you can do something else?" Naruto asked.

"Indeed. You can also be reincarnated if you wish. However that doesn't necessarily mean you'll be the same person. You could be reborn anywhere, as anyone, at any point in time," the shinigami gave a shudder. "I wouldn't recommend it though."

Naruto thought for a moment. Reincarnation? Being reborn as a completely new soul? He would probably lose his entire identity if he said yes, but did it even matter? His entire life had been nothing but miserable.

Being hated by everyone all the time, struggling to merely survive, having an ego-maniac of a bijuu trapped in his gut. Was that even a life worth remembering?

'_No_', he decided. _'I'd rather be an entirely new person instead of someone always dragged_ _down by the chains of their past.'_ He stared at the rotund shinigami determinedly. "Reincarnate me."

"What?" Both Sasuke and Mareshino stared at him as though he were insane. Naruto gave a sad smile. "Sorry Sasuke, but honestly, my life isn't worth living. I want the chance to be a person completely untainted by their past. I guess this is it." Sasuke gaped at him. Had Naruto always been like this? He suddenly realized how miserable Naruto's life must have been. The blond acted like a bitter old man, he seemed so much older than he was.

"I see," the man stared at Naruto seriously, all traces of arrogance gone. "Are you truly sure you want to do this? Destroy who you are? Lose your very identity? This is an extremely important decision," he warned

Naruto nodded. "I'm sure." He couldn't be persuaded otherwise, if their was a chance to become an entirely new soul at the cost of his current identity, then so be it.

Mareshino nodded before drawing his zanpakuto. A simple katana with a blue hilt and a black tassel. "Tamashi Fukkatsu!" he cried, stabbing the blond through the chest with his blade. Naruto's eyes widened as he felt his body beginning to disintegrate into blue energy. He realized he felt no pain, only peace as he turned to his friend. "Live long Sasuke, don't die too soon." he smiled sadly as his body completely vanished into a shape of glowing blue particles that seemed to vanish before their very eyes.

Sasuke felt hollow, as though he'd lost something incredibly important. Naruto was gone forever. Naruto, the dobe who'd been his rival, his nemesis, his best friend. Gone. He felt a fire in his stomach. '_What is this feeling?'_ he wondered as it grew until he remembered what it was. '_Determination,'_ he recalled. It filled him until his gaze snapped towards Mareshino, who felt uncomfortable due to the Uchiha's gaze.

"I want to become a shinigami," he declared. Mareshino seemed much more at ease with this proclamation, and was just about to perform a konso when a blast of red light crashed next to them, sending the pair flying.

"**What's this? A shinigami and a soul filled with delicious reiatsu? Wonderful"** A twisted voice called out, sounding like two voices overlapping each other. "Such wonderful energy should never go to waste!" A shape landed on the water in front of Sasuke as he got on a knee and stared at the creature.

His eyes widened as he took in it's appearance. The creature vaguely humanoid in shape, but only shape. It was 10 feet tall with pale green skin, filled with muscle. It had brutish hands and clawed feet with only three toes. The strange part was the mask on it's face. Bone white, with red designs on each side. The mask looking like a man's grotesque grin, with ram's horns where it's ears would be. It's eyes were pure black like the abyss. Those horrible eyes they were just like that day. That horrible-

"Sasuke!" Mareshino's yell shook him out of his thoughts as he dived to the left, just in time as the monster swiped at him. He cursed, he'd gotten so caught up in his memories he'd almost been killed!

The monster turned towards him with a sneer. "**So the morsel can dodge? Good, let's play** **a game! Tag, you're IT!"** and it charged him at incredible speed. It was too fast to dodge! Sasuke's eyes closed as he awaited death.

SQUELCH! Blood splashed over him as he opened his eyes slowly before they widened at the sight before him. Mareshino was standing there, his zanpakuto held in a defensive position. He'd tried to block the hollow's attack, only for it's claw to pierce straight through him.

The shinigami turned weakly towards Sasuke before giving a smirk. "Duty must always come before personal misgivings. Even for a noble," he smirked at the stunned Uchiha.

The hollow growled angrily. "**Shinigami! You're in the way!"** It struck him, launching the dying man to the side.

The hollow dived at Sasuke with a roar. Eyes hardening, Sasuke jumped back as it's claws lashed out at him.

CLANG! The noise rang out as Sasuke and the hollow stared at the chain of fate. It was lying on the ground completely unattached to anything.

Sasuke gingerly touched his chest. If his chain of fate was gone that that meant . . .

"Aaaargh!" he screamed. His entire body felt like it was on fire! Far worse than anything he had ever experienced. Even receiving the curse mark paled in comparison to the agony he was currently feeling.

Suddenly the pain stopped. Power coursed through him as he felt his body change. Becoming huge, it's body covered in black feathers. A cruel beak filled with fangs. And a mask covering the upper half of it's face.

Sasuke felt power unlike anything he'd ever felt before, it coursed through him, filling his veins with energy. And there was something else. Sasuke was HUNGRY.

**"Impossible!"** The hollow cried as it stared, horrified at the new member of it's kind.

Sasuke sneered at the now smaller hollow. **"I think it's time for a game. Tag you're it!"** He flew towards the hollow, and before it could blink, lifted it up in his cruel talons as the area seemed to distort around them until they were above a desert filled with pale sand.

The hollow's screams echoed throughout the skies as the hawklike hollow bit and stabbed it's body with it's fanged beak.

Finally the pain stopped as it's tormentor dropped thehollow down onto the sand below. With a loud crash the hollow landed painfully in a crater of sand.

There was no time to react as the hawk hollow landed on it painfully. The massive hawk screeched before piercing the hollow's mask with it's beak,killing it.

Sasuke stared down at the hollow he had just killed. It was revolting, hideous, it was DELICIOUS. He plunged his beak into the same area that he'd created by killing the creature

Sasuke finished eating the hollow as power flooded through his body. This feeling, it felt as though he were king of the world, like euphoria!

As power rushed through him Sasuke gave a savage screech that echoed across the desert. And the few who heard it felt a shiver run up their spines.

* * *

Naruto Uzumaki was bored.

It wasn't actually uncommon for such an event to occur, but nevertheless it did.

Naruto was a 15 year old student of Karakura high. He wore the uniform, took the classes, and did the work, but he definitely wasn't your average student.

First of all was his appearance. His father was an American named Takuya Hiragashi, a lawyer who had moved to Japan as a business opportunity. It was during a small case where he met his mother, a woman named Izumi Uzumaki, an executive who was suing one of her coworkers at the time, and after he helped her win they dated, fell in love, and eventually married and had a child.

Izumi was a blonde woman with long blonde hair trailing down her back, she was tough, aggressive, and very smart, her brown eyes were always filled with life, and she could intimidate people with a glance. His father was a brunette with short, shaggy hair reaching his shoulders and blue eyes. Takuya was clever, warmhearted, and one of the few people Izumi couldn't intimidate with a look alone.

Naruto was a mix of them both, in appearance and personality. He had lightly tanned skin, and an angular face that was a mix of American and Japanese, having the slanted eyes, yet considering they were larger and straighter than most Japanese citizens.

Not to mention the birthmarks on his cheeks, three per cheek. Strangely they were sensitive to the touch, as Naruto would actually purr like a cat if someone stroked them.

He had blonde hair that had the appearance of a hedgehog's quills. It reached into his eyes slightly, covering most of his ears and the back of his neck. Despite the fact that his hair reminded people of the rodent, it was referred to as a lion's mane due to it's wildness and length.

His body was in the prime of human fitness. He stood at a height of 6'1, being slightly stocky. His frame was packed with muscle, having little, if any, fat on his body. This was due to having trained in martial arts since he was a child. His natural instincts and lightning fast reflexes made him a natural at it.

The years of training had paid off, giving him massive strength for his age, as well as an Adonis figure.

Another thing that set him apart was his attitude. He was sarcastic, bold, outspoken, and rebellious. People had tried messing with him before, only to find themselves making out with the ground, courtesy of the blond's fists or feet.

He didn't automatically respect someone for their appearance or positions of power, he respected their actions. It took quite a few teachers a while to earn his respect until they had proven themselves competent and fair.

He also didn't stand for bullying in any form. Once he'd seen a girl being picked on because of her blue hair, or at least some guys trying to rile her up, which completely backfired on them. He'd left the thugs who had been bothering her with a painful reminder of the consequences of their actions, and to his surprise, she had helped.

In return the two had become friends. Her name was Juvia Lockser, a girl with short, shoulder length hair that was an unusual aqua blue.

She had pale skin and a heart shaped face, this along, with her violet eyes, caused Naruto to wonder why the males weren't constantly chasing her like they did Orihime, a ditzy red head with huge breasts. Oh well, they were missing out.

Juvia was bright, smart and actually quite short tempered. She and Naruto constantly found themselves either having a conversation without the slightest issue one moment, and screaming in each other's faces the next.

Though they would never admit it, they actually enjoyed their arguments quite a bit. Her temper was more controlled than Naruto's but no less powerful, they were like fire and water, keeping each other in check, not that they realized it. Everyone else could see it though, and that was why no one dared to go after Juvia, they were afraid of both her and Naruto's retaliation.

Currently the blond was walking along the street, silver headphones around his neck, blaring out music loud enough for him to hear as he conversed with a ghost who took the appearance of a middle aged man with black hair.

Oh yeah, the other thing was that he could see ghosts and talk to them ever since he was born.

"Why would you try to use a screwdriver on the core of your phone battery?" he cried, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "You should have called someone or at least put the thing away."

"I know!" the ghost cried, anime tears puring down his cheeks. "I'll never try to fix a phone by myself again, happy now!" he demanded.

Naruto sweat dropped. "I don't think that's a problem for you anymore." He stated dryly, causing the spirit do nearly break down from stress. The blond did his best to console the man. "There, there. I'm sure heaven will be so nice you won't even need a cellphone."

It seemed to do as the spirit brightened up considerably after that, thanked the blond, and promptly vanished.

Naruto sighed. How sad could you get? Dieing because you tried to fix a faulty piece of equipment. Ridiculous, yet also hilarious. The only thing that kept him from laughing was the fact that it had actually happened.

It was the middle of July, the 21st in fact. His summer vacation had been uneventful, practicing martial arts, sleeping, taking walks, hanging out with Juvia, and having conversations with random ghosts.

"Why can't someone be killed by something a bit more realistic?" he whined. The ghosts he met always found ways to die in the most ridiculous of ways, like falling asleep with their face in a cereal bowl, or dropping something on a third rail and trying to pick it up, only to get shocked, or putting a fork in the microwave to test the rumor, seriously?

His thoughts were cut off by a savage wail that sounded like two voices overlapping each other.

Naruto's eyes widened as he heard a scream coming from the same direction. Without hesitation he began running towards the sounds as fast as he could. 'That sounded like a kid!'

The screams and roars reached their peak as he turned to an alleyway, only for his eyes to widen in shock.

It was a young girl, a brunette in a small dress on her knees screaming in terror. She was a a ghost, he realized. And standing in front of her was a monster.

The thing was standing at an incredible 14 feet tall, it had the appearance of a giant toad, brown slimy skin with warts all over it's body. It's mouth had fangs poking out of both lips and strangely, a bone white mask covering it's face.

The monster gave what appeared to be a grotesque grin as it stalked towards the terrified child. It's clawed toes scraped at the ground as it approached her.

Naruto charged with a roar. Jumping with his side parallel to the ground, he leaped over the girl and kicked out with both feet, driving them into the monster's mask as it howled in pain as it skidded back a bit, small cracks appearing where Naruto had kicked it.

Naruto landed on all fours as the monster glared at him angrily, he noticed a large hole in the center of it's chest. "A human," it hissed.** "Who knew humans could actually say hit so hard!"** It seemed thoughtful for a moment before grinning at the blond.** "The reiatsu you're emitting. It's so massive, and you're doing it without even trying! You will taste delicious!"** It charged forward with a screech.

Naruto turned to the girl. "Get out of here!" he shouted. Her eyes widened as she seemed to ask him something with her gaze.

His eyes softened. "I'll be alright, I promise, but you're in danger. Now hurry!" Nodding, she ran out of the alley, turning a corner and vanishing from sight

Naruto whirled around, only to feel as though he'd been struck by a flying house as the monster rammed into him, sending him flying.

Naruto saw red as he hit the pavement. His chest felt strange, as though he were underwater. Lifting his head as best he could, he realized he was bleeding heavily, the life giving substance pouring out of his ruined chest like a broken dam.

"**Hahahaha**! **Looks like you couldn't stop me human! You should have just walked by instead of trying to be a hero!"** the monster taunted. **"Now I'll just devour you and then that child."**

'_This thing is right,'_ he realized. _'I'm too weak to win against it. I can't protect that girl. I broke my promise.'_ His fists clenched. _'If only I were stronger. I could keep fighting, I wouldn't fail!'_

'_So__ that's it then?'_ A voice asked, sounding quite disappointed. _'I never thought I would see the day that my container gives up all because someone told you to.'_

_'Who are you?'_ he asked,confused. That voice, it sounded familiar, deep, ancient, and filled with power. Where had he heard it before?

_'Does that matter now? Of course not! Now are you going to just sit there and let this thing eat you and that girl?'_ it snapped.

'_But what can I do?'_

_'Take the sword!'_

_'Sword? What sw-'_

_'Take the damn sword!'_

His right arm filled with strength, and it reached up to feel a hard surface he instinctively knew was a hilt. His fingers tightened around it, and then . . .

The monster's eyes widened as it's prey was engulfed in an explosion of amber and white reiatsu. Shielding it's eyes, the monster gaped as the reiatsu increased beyond anything it had ever felt. Even that huge burst of power from May hadn't had this much reiatsu!

The blinding torrent of energy finally died down to just barely manageable levels as the monster raised it's head, horror ran through it's veins. It's prey was standing up!

There he was. Wounds gone, clothes changed, and reiatsu flowing off him. Naruto stared at the creature coldly, his gaze like that of tiger stalking it's prey.

He was standing tall. His wounds having vanished completely, as well as the clothes he was wearing. He was dressed in a black kimono with a white vest and pants underneath. His feet were covered in socks and geta sandals. But that wasn't what frightened the creature.

In his left hand was a blade. A straight bladed tanto in fact, although it was about a third longer than an average tanto. It had a crimson hilt and a black circular guard, with the blade being a bright silver. The creature was shaking with fear, that blade, despite it's size was a zanpakuto!

And suddenly the teen charged, faster than the monster could react it was missing a forearm. Then the blond gave a kick that sent back flying back into the alley, crashing against the wall painfully.

There was no chance to escape as Naruto reappeared on it's chest. Three lightning fast punches in different areas of it's chest sent the monster into spasms of agony until the blond stabbed into it's mask with his blade.

The dying hollow raised it's remaining foreleg weakly.** "What are you?"** it rasped.

Naruto's eyes hardened. "You're executioner."

The hollow gave a bitter chuckle. **"Thank . . . you shini. . . gami."** And it disintegrated in a flash of blue light.

Naruto's gaze softened as he stared at the area where the hollow had been. "You were just another ghost. One that was twisted and lost it's way. I hope you find peace somehow," he muttered.

He felt tired, as though gravity had increased tenfold. He felt the strange clothes and the sword seemingly disappear as he slumped against the wall.

'_It's getting so dark,'_ he thought._ 'So very . . . dark.'_

* * *

"Hey, I think he's waking up!"

"Shhhh! Not so loud!

" I'm not being loud!"

"Yes you are!"

"You're both being plenty loud to me."

The two jumped in shock at the sound of Naruto's voice. He squinted as his sight focused, only to see the faces of Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki.

Naruto jumped to his feet, pointing at them dramatically. "Oi! What the hell are you two doing here!" he demanded. Could there be a more random pair to find him? And did they have to be his classmates as well?

Rukia bopped him over the head painfully. "We were trying to find where that burst of reiatsu came from. Instead we found you killing a hollow before fainting." she snapped, eyebrow twitching.

Naruto rubbed his head tenderly, before looking around, they seemed to be on top of a roof. "You didn't have to hit me so hard." he grumbled, glaring at Rukia. Suddenly his eyes widened. "You could see that thing?" he asked. Alright, people who could see ghosts too! The blond felt like dancing. He wasn't crazy!

"Yeah we can see ghosts, and hollows too." the strawberry answered as Rukia opened her mouth. She glared at him, kicking his shin before turning back to the sweat dropping blond as Ichigo hopped around, holding his injured leg painfully.

"Pay close attention because I'll only explain this once," she demanded. Naruto nodded. "Apparently you had a massive amount of spirit energy, allowing you to see ghosts and hollows. A hollow is a ghost who couldn't pass on and became evil, becoming filled with the desire to eat souls for power," she explained. "Shinigami are souls who have large amounts of reiatsu and use it in the forms of their zanpakuto,a soul cutting sword, to slay hollows and purify them. And it appears that somehow you awakened your spiritual energy and became a shinigami on your own, got it?"

Naruto slowly nodded as thoughts ran through his head. _'Shinigami, kill hollows wih zanpakuto , and purify.'_

Ichigo patted the dumbfounded blond on the back sympathetically. "I was like that too."

The blond in question slowly managed to return to reality. "So is there a way for me to call on these powers when I need them?" he asked curiously. Considering the way Rukia spoke of them there would probably be a lot more of these hollows, and if there would be more than one he would need to know how to fight them.

Rukia nodded. "I'm a shinigami as well as Ichigo, athough he became one by taking my powers to kickstart his own. So while I no longer can fight, I can pull your souls out of your bodies so you can fight."

"Whoa whoa whoa. What do you mean pull my soul out of my body?" Naruto demanded. "What the hell does that even mean?"

Rukia grabbed him and yanked him forward. Naruto gasped as he landed on his feet, it felt like had gotten ice water dumped over his head. He looked at himself, only to gasp. The kimono, the sword at his waist! He was a shinigami again!

Naruto slowly turned around in circles, only to freeze as he saw himself laying on the ground like a corpse, although he appeared to be sleeping. The blond slowly turned to Rukia, his face blank. "I see your point." he stated dryly, causing the tiny girl to throw up a peace sign triumphantly.

Sweat dropping, he turned to Ichigo. "Is she always like this?" The citrus haired shinigami mirrored his expression. "You have no idea."

* * *

And that is the end of my first chapter of the rewrite of One Life Ends Another Begins!

I think the title fits the rewrite better anyway. Okay now, several things I want to make clear.

Naruto will not truly remember his past life as ninja. It will be a mystery for him to solve,unravelling these strange memories and feelings he gets.

Naruto seems ooc because he wasn't willing to take the villagers shit, he gave it right back, and was therefore way more powerful and smart because he didn't waste time trying to get people's attention.

The story happens a few days after Ichigo visits his mother's grave and fights Grand Fisher.

I've already decided on Naruto AND Sasuke's zanpakuto.

Juvia is the same Juvia from Fairy Tail, although she's not actually from that universe in this fic.

I've already decided on the pairing for Naruto, but I can't really think of the perfect one for Sasuke. No harems or yaoi if you have a suggestion though.

Oh and Mareshonin was an oc who was supposed to Marechiyo's uncle. You know, Soi-fon's lieutenant.

P.s. Tamashi Fukkatsu is a translation I read on google. It means soul rebirth in Japanese.

I hope you liked it. And if you didn't then tell me what you'd like to see! Bye!


	2. Chapter 2

I'm back with the next chapter!

So it might take me some more time to update cuz the computer charger broke so I have to update with an iPad, so my apologies for taking longer than I would normally.

* * *

Wow, he was a shinigami, just great.

Naruto had been quite eager to know all he could about his status as a death god after discovering what had happened to him after he'd been attacked by the hollow.

He'd been slightly irritated to know that he had basically died to obtain his abilities, but he was pacified by the fact that he was techniqually still alive, although Rukia had managed to sink another ship of hope by explaining that he was still dead, and his body was really just his gigai.

Not that it was anymore beneficial for his health, mental or physical, to argue with the black-haired shinigami either. She would just him on the head, and _that_ would just cause an argument between the two.

Rukia had sat both him and Ichigo down and basically given them a schoolyard lecture on shinigami, hollows, and whatever else shinigami or hollow related, complete with a drawing board that appeared out of nowhere, with crappy drawings included. Although Ichigo had warned the blond not to comment on Rukia's terrible artwork, personally remembering her painful retaliation when he had done so.

After that they developed a schedule. Waking up and doing whatever they do during the mornings before meeting up at a designated location they had set up earlier via cellphone, and then hanging out until Rukia detected a hollow, form there they would find and slay/purify it with their zanpakuto,(Naruto was still slightly unclear on the fact that killing someone who had died, wasted away as a spirit, and _then _turned into a monster purified them though) and then check for more, which they would slay as well, before going their separate ways.

It was quite interesting for Naruto. He would get up and eat breakfast before leaving with a few words to his parents. Then he'd meet up with the pair of shinigami and basically patrol the town for hollow activity. One day when they were about to depart he'd asked why Ichigo and Rukia always left together, only to discover that Rukia had been at Ichigo's house, hiding in his closet. The blond had cracked up, much to the expense of his compatriots.

You learn something new every day.

He'd been quite surprised when they told him of how they had met, and how Ichigo had obtained his powers. After the blond had shared his tale a thought had struck him. How did he become a shinigami if there had been no one to help push out his reiatsu?

Of course Naruto had voiced his question. But it had really become a mystery to solve, a mystery with a highly illusive answer.

The schedule they set up was eventually shattered by a growing threat. A threat so powerful and unstoppable it rules over every populated area in the world. It is ire of all children and teenagers, as well as the savior for all adults with children. The name of this threat you ask? It has many forms, many shapes, it is cursed by everyone under it's thumb, but the name we all know it as?

School!

Returning to school hadn't really changed much between them. They all shared the same class in the mornings. To most people it was quite freaky. The 'delinquent' Kurosaki friends with the 'rebel' Uzumaki _and_ 'that Kuchiki girl' as some knew Rukia, together?

Of course they had been forced to make some excuses to their friends as to why they had started hanging out. Naruto and Ichigo had introduced each other to their friends, and vice-versa.

Naruto made the acquaintances of Yatsutora Sado, a japanese-mexican student who was known for his foreign appearance as well as his massive size, although Naruto had discovered he was quiet and thoughtful in person, talking little unless he deemed it necessary. A man of few words Naruto called him, he could respect that, of course was talked more, just not so much that he could be considered chatty, more like a rebellious wise-ass.

Orihime Inoue really was a bit ditzy, but Naruto overlooked that consideriwhat he kind of person she was. In his entire life he had never met someone so purehearted and kind. The weird tastes in food,vwere considered weird but he didn't see it. Sushi dipped in chocolate with orange zest on top was actually pretty tasty, in fact people often saw the blond munching on the strange snack contentedly.

Then there was Tatsuki. Man the girl was fiery! She'd accused him of being a pervert the moment he'd raised a hand so he could shake Orihime's, and would have kicked him into tomorrow if the whiskered blond hadn't raised a forearm to block the blow. She'd apologized, mortified that she had almost kicked a complete stranger in the head due to an assumption, but Naruto had waved off her concerns, telling he that she had only been protecting a friend. After that, things had gone smoothly. Juvia had gotten along with everyone fine, before bopping him over the head for barely seeing her over vacation and then hugging him and telling him how glad she was to see him again.

Besides that school dragged on. There was the occasional hollow, but they usually showed up after school, and were easily taken care of.

It was one night where Naruto had gone to hang out at Ichigo's house with Rukia, that things got interesting again.

"Oooh! I think there's some supernatural activity over here!" the man shouted, waving the stick he claimed was an 'anti-specter weapon' in the air like an idiot.

Naruto sighed from his position on the floor. He'd been recently introduced to the Kurosaki family, and had barely recovered from the traumatic experience that was meeting Isshin Kurosaki, before meeting the fraternal twins Karin and Yuzu, and those two practitcally defined the word fraternal.

Karin was cynical, sarcastic, and kind of dark. Naruto immediately liked that about her. Plus watching the different ways she and Ichigo beat the crap out of Isshin when he was being ridiculous were highly amusing and confusing. Mostly because it made Naruto question whether the man was just touched in the head or some kind of masochist.

Yuzu was sweet, childish, and innocent. She would be the one to squeak in horror after her siblings had finished beating the crap out of their father before rushing to treat him. The blond had half a mind to take her and turn her into a rebel who lived by the motto 'fight the power' but had declined.

Now the trio, along with Yuzu and Karin, were watching a show called Ghost Bust. A 'reality show' where the host, Don Kanonji led his poor camera crew all over the world in search of 'supernatural activity'.

The three were barely keeping in their laughter. The fool and his cameramen were definitely _not_ spiritually aware, that was for sure, but watching his attempts to find ghosts and broadcast them to the world were hilarious to watch though.

Suddenly Karin stood up and walked away.

"Hey, where are you going?" Ichigo asked.

His sister gave him a dry look once they were out of earshot. "I can see ghosts, same as you," she answered. "Watching a ghost show is what I definitely _don't_ need right now."

Ichigo was shocked. Karin could see ghosts as well? Did she know about shinigami? About hollows? About him and his secret too? Then it hit him. She must have remembered the hollow attack!

The strawberry returned to the living room to see his father and Yuzu both watching the show like their lives depended on it. One face fault and he saw his friends trying to see at least an inch of the screen, the perfect opportunity!

He hurried over to the couch and quickly told his friends the news. Naruto was just as surprised as he was, but Rukia was quite calm.

"Well your family probably has more spiritual energy than most others," she explained. "Who knows? Maybe certain humans can detect spiritual entities like you and Naruto."

Naruto scratched his chin thoughtfully. "But wouldn't that mean other people can become shinigami like we have?" the blond was quite interested to hear if this phenomenon had occurred before.

Rukia shrugged."Maybe it has. Though if it did, it happened a very, _very_ long time ago. Although now that you've brought it up, I've become pretty curious," she admitted. Had a human ever joined the ranks of the shinigami before? Or were Naruto and Ichigo two of a kind?

Either way, each of them was mulling over the thoughts of spiritually aware humans as they parted.

* * *

"Come on Ichigo, just try it!" Orihime begged. The redhead had been doing the ridiculous pose used by Don Kanonnow since last night, and had been desperately trying to get someone to do it with her.

Naruto had gently refused, saying his back was sore, and Rukia just said no. Seriously, who knew Orihime would be such a fan?

Strangely, Keigo and Muzurio were all to willing to pose alongside the girl. Well not surprisingly since Keigo was a huge pervert and Muzurio was too nice to refuse. Of course after seeing this Ichigo still refused.

"Hey Ichigo! Wanna come with us to see the filming of Ghost Bust?" Keigo half asked, half demanded.

Ichigo sighed. "Keigo, there is no way I am going to watch the filming of that ridiculous show!" he shouted.

* * *

"I can't believe I'm actually doing this," he muttered, a storm cloud above his head.

It was Wednesday, and Isshin and Yuzu had completely dragged Ichigo and Karin along with them to watch the filming live. Luckily for his sanity Rukia had come along, and Naruto was there because he had nothing else to do.

The crowd was situated behind the line of cameramen and everyone else of any importance to the show. This time they were filming at the abandoned Karakura hospital.

"3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . action!"

Immediately the crowd gave a roar as the host, Don Kanonji himself appeared in view. He was tall and quite thin, like a scarecrow, only louder. He was wearing a red and black over coat with a strange hat on top of his head. The rest of his outfit was in varying shades of black, gold, and red. The man himself had tanned skin with a thick mustache and hair done in a peculiar version of dreadlocks. This,along with his black goggles made the man look quite insane.

The trio face faulted as he did his strange pose along with the most ridiculous catchphrase they had ever heard. "Tastes like bad spirits!" he called out to no one in particular.

"Now to get down and discover some evil ghosts!" The crowd went ballistic at that.

* * *

The trio were quite tired.

The night had been far more eventful than they could have imagined. First there was a spirit that turned into a hollow during the filming, and of course Don managed to find it forcing Naruto and Ichigo to slay the thing thanks to the help of Kisuke Urahara, who managed to get them out of their bodies.

It was quite hectic after that, since they had actually been seen slightly while on camera, so they were forced to explain themselves to the principal the next day, with Don complaining that they were now all over television.

A shitty way to start the day meant things couldn't get much worse, right?

"It's that way!" Rukia shouted, pointing over the top of Ichigo's head for emphasis. "Almost there!" A building was jumped over as the petite shinigami cried, "Here!"

The strawberry and the blond looked around frantically, zanpakuto poised and ready to strike, only to see an anomaly.

THERE WAS NO HOLLOW!

"What the hell is this?" Naruto shouted, hands grasping at his mane savagely. "This is the thrid time this week! Why do these hollows keep popping up and then disappearing?" He swiped his zanpakuto at the air, as though he were attacking an invisible enemy. "It just doesn't make sense." he sighed. What the hell was going on?

"No it doesn't." Ichigo frowned. Rukia kept detecting hollows and they arrived at the location as fast as they could, but no hollows? Something didn't add up. He turned to her. "Are you sure this is the right place?" he asked. He wasn't questioning her ability to detect reiatsu, even Ichigo wasn't _that_ suicidal. But he had to explore every angle before making a conclusion.

"Of course it is!" she snapped irritably. "There was a hollow here, but it feels like there was something else, something that must have taken it down before us." she said slowly. Oninwardly though, she was just as confused as her friends. _'I've never felt reiatsu like this before.'_ she thought with a hint of fear. _'What kind of creature are we dealing with?'_

"So could it be another shinigami?" Naruto questioned. If they were getting rid of hollows the it had to be a shinigami, right?

"No'" Rukia said slowly. She seemed to ponder her next words carefully. "Whatever's responsible for this is no shinigami, and from the feeling of this reiatsu it definitely isn't a hollow."

Now that was worrying. Rukia was basically their trove of knowledge on wall things supernatural. If there was something she didn't know about, then that was a real problem.

"So what do we do?" Naruto questioned. "Just keep our guard up and wait until we can find this thing and deal with it? That definitely won't end well."

"It's the best choice of action." Ichigo said testily. "If we go out looking for this thing we'll be sitting ducks to be ambushed!" Tempers were slowly rising. If they didn't find out who or what was responsible for this someone would snap.

"Okay, I understand." Naruto said disarmingly._ 'Just questioning our tactics,'_ he thought, a tic mark on his head.

Rukia promptly bopped them over their heads painfully. "Calm down you animals," she snapped. "Let's get back to class already."

"So you can ignore the teacher to draw your crappy rabbits?" Naruto teased.

"S-shut up!"

Far away on a random building, a black haired man adjusted his glasses slowly. _'Shinigami,' _he thought angrily.

* * *

Okay, so, so, _so_ sorry that I took so long, plus the shortness of this chapter. But I really just did this so I could make the next one super long.

Also, my sister wouldn't let me use her iPad and of course the computer charger broke, so that was a no-no.

The next chapter's gonna be way longer, and your favorite spiritually aware humans and Quincy are gonna get the spotlight!

Until next time!


	3. Chapter 3

I'm baaaaaaack!

This chapter is gonna kick things off. It's definitely the longest and will lead us into the more important parts of the story, where things get real serious.

* * *

"Ow, jeez, could you loosen your grip a little bit!"

"Damn it! Let me go!

"Shut up!"

"It's probably not even a hollow at all! I bet it's just another false alarm!"

"I've been right every time! It's that creature we've been talking about!"

If someone where spiritually aware, they would be sweat dropping right now.

Seriously, the sight of two teenage boys dressed like the samurai of old being dragged along by a girl who was as tall as the average 2nd grader like they were naughty children was ridiculous, yet hilarious.

It became even funnier when the tiny girl began running faster than the human eye could see and the unfortunate pair were practically flying over the ground. "It's this way! I feel it!" Rukia shouted.

"Yeah, well the only thing I can feel is my ass smashing into the ground!" Naruto screamed back. His ass- no, his entire backside was on fire! Rukia had practically kidnapped them from class so they could battle another hollow. He was pretty sure this would be the seventh time in a week. If there was no hollow he would snap and pull through with his threat to tell the entire school about Rukia's secret obsession!

The blond was just barely able to turn his neck enough to see Ichigo in a practically comatose position. His eyes were wide open yet unseeing, and his mouth was wide open. If this were another time, he would totally take advantage of this prankworthy moment, but as things were, he would just try to stay alive.

"Come on. Almost there!" The petite shinigami muttered, turning a sharp corner. Just a few more blocks and the hollow would be revealed! Not to mention her secret would be safe. Rukia shuddered, the blond had threatened to tell everyone about it! She'd been able to control her passion in public, but when she was alone and could find one . . .

**"Haaaaaarrrrrrraaaaaaaggggggg gghhhhhhhhhhhh!" **The savage roar echoed out, causing her to skid to a stop, unintentionally faceplanting her charges.

"Ow ammit!"

Rubbing his injured face, Naruto slowly lifted his head to find himself staring at Rukia's smug grin. "Do you need anymore proof?" she questioned arrogantly, getting a sweat-drop from the blond.

_'Lousy, no good karma,'_ he thought. He muttered an unintelligible sentence. "What was that?" Her face was the picture of innocence. Damn her being right! "I said," he began, eyebrow twitching. "You were right, and both Ichigo and I were wrong." Suddenly he gave his signature roguish grin, putting Rukia on edge. "AND NO ONE WILL KNOW ABOUT RUKIA'S OBSESSION FOR ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING USAGI-CHAN!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

His words cracked reality like glass around Rukia. "Y-you promised you wouldn't say it!" she whined. Her, a Kuchiki. One of the noble families among the shinigami, _whining_! It was unbelievable!

The blond's grin only got wider. "I said I wouldn't say it anytime soon! That was four days ago, remember?" he teased, causing her cheeks to burn with embarrassment. 'You win this round Uzumaki,' she thought, mentally shaking a fist, although she felt herself smirking.

"Eh? Us- usagi-chan?" Naruto facepalmed. Of course _those _would be the first words Ichigo said.

"Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrggggghhhhhh hh!

* * *

There they were, Naruto and Ichigo facing down a hulking bison-like hollow.

They were heroic, epic, like samurai facing down a group of bandits, outnumbered(or outsized) but definitely not outmatched. Swords unlike any other, shining in the afternoon light, it made them seem all the more impressive.

The moment was slightly ruined by the bruises coating them all over, courtesy of womanly wrath.

Naruto cursed Ichigo to the depths of hell in his mind. _'You just had to remind her, even if you were unconscious huh?_' Karma sucked, especially when it judo flipped you face-first into the concrete and beat the crap out of you.

He shook his head as Ichigo charged, jumping into the air and vertically slashing, cutting off one of the creature's horns. The hollow roared in agony and blind rage, charging insanely at it's foe. Ichigo dodged, managing to get in a small slice where it's ribs were.

_'Shit!'_ Naruto suddenly felt a sudden urge, it was crazy and might get him killed if he did it wrong, but what the hell. He charged at the hollow, his zanpakuto at the side as they were about to meet, before ducking just as they were about to collide and sliding under the monster's huge underside.

He stabbed his zanpakuto upward, feeling the blade pierce through the soft stomach and organs as it cut a path across the hollow's belly. The hollow screamed in pain, blood flowing from it's massive wound. It's eyes were filled with hate as they locked onto their blond haired target as he turned to face it.

Oh yes. He would kill the citrus-head first, rip him apart and eat his bones. But the blond. He would kill that one slowly, painfully, viciously. Peel off his flesh! Rip out his eyes and hair! Take off each layer of muscle until there was nothing but bone and organs! Oh yes! They would feed him for a long time!

It's vision tinged with red, the hollow charged savagely. Bellowing out it's challenge. Snarling, the blond charged in turn, he half turned to the shouting Ichigo.

Ichigo froze as he saw Naruto's eyes. They were cold, hard, like steel, but filled with determination. They had one message in them. _'Don't interfere.'_ Gulping, he froze. What was that? Naruto was a shinigami like him, but when had the blond gained such a harshness?

His thoughts became darker. _'Is that what I look like?_' Ichigo wondered. Was that what people saw when they looked at him. A cold, menacing teen who didn't want to be bothered? If so then why did he even have his friends? Were they scared of him too?

_'No,'_ he reasoned. _'If they were scared of me, we wouldn't even know each other. Right?'_ Shaking his head, he returned his attention to the battle. Naruto was just about to clash with the hollow. They were just about . . .

**Splelch!**

Out of nowhere a glowing turquoise thing pierced through the back of the hollow's head, halting it's charge. Naruto skidded to a stop as he stared at the hollow's disintegrating body, but more importantly, was that an arrow?

Rukia gasped. An arrow, that was their sign! But there were supposed to be none left! How was that possible?

Without warning a figure swiftly landed between Naruto and Ichigo. "So you finally got here in time eh?" the man questioned, slowly standing to reveal a pale, aristocratic looking teen wearing dress pants and a white button up shirt. He had short black hair and a thin pair of glasses, plus a huge bow made of strange turquoise energy.

And he was glaring at Ichigo and Naruto as though they were his arch enemies.

"So you can see spirits," he sneered. Ichigo was taken aback, this was the same guy from a few days ago! He'd just walked up to Ichigo and asked him if he could see spirits. Did he really expect Ichigo to say yes and potentially reveal his secrets? Pfft, yeah right.

The stranger pushed his free fingers against the bridge of his nose, adjusting his glasses. "My name is Uryu Ishida," he introduced. "And I hate shinigami Ichigo Kurosaki and Naruto Uzumaki, therefore I hate you!"

As he adjusted his glasses once more, his bow disappeared, revealing a bracelet with a cross on his right wrist. Scowling, he disappeared.

Ichigo turned irritably towards Rukia, who had been watching beside a tree off to the side. "He's not human is he?" he demanded, a tic marc on his face. The midget shook her head in conformation. "So what is he?"

Rukia scowled at him before taking a deep breath. "He's a Quincy."

* * *

_'Man,'_ Naruto thought as the teacher droned on about some geometry problem. '_No wonder Uryu hates shinigami.'_

Rukia had given them an explanation about the quincy species, although she had mercifully decided not . They were spiritually aware humans who could sense hollows and eventually adapted to the threat. Obtaining abilities that allowed them to create weapons to battle and slay hollows, similar to shinigami. They used an object called a quincy cross, which could change it's shape from a kind of accessory to a weapon unique to the user.

There was one problem though.

When a quincy killed a hollow, it wasn't purified and sent to the afterlife. It ceased to exist completely.

The shinigami had realized this, and to 'protect the balance of power', a phrase which caused Naruto to scowl, they waged war on, and eliminated, nearly the entire Quincy species. If there was ever a reason to be angry, then that was it. The destruction of your entire race because the power balance was about to tip over, that really sucked.

Of course Ichigo was curious, but that really didn't matter. He couldn't even remember Uryu's entire name.

Naruto sighed. Rukia was really the only one who he could talk about their new quincy situation, but she really didn't have that much information. Not that it mattered, she was being pretty tight-lipped about the situation anyway.

"Uzumaki! Pay attention!" Naruto dodged the piece of chalk, snickering as he heard Keigo's yell of pain as it crashed into his nose.

* * *

"I know you're following me." Uryu stood still, his quincy cross at the ready. _'So Kurosaki, you're curious._' He smirked as he adjusted his glasses. _'That might get you killed someday.'_

"Congratulations, you noticed." Ichigo clapped his hands sarcastically as he emerged from his hiding place. "You have good observational skills."

"Not really," the quincy sneered, turning to face him. "You have such massive reiatsu levels that you have no control over them, causing your spiritual energy to constantly be flaring. You and Uzumaki," he said coldly.

Ichigo frowned, but before he could speak Uryu was already talking. "You know, you shinigami are totally unnecessary here." Suddenly his gaze hardened as he stared at Ichigo. "Fight me," he demanded. The chance to prove the power of the quincy was at hand. He would make sure the shinigami knew the power of his race had not been completely extinguished._ 'Grandfather,'_ he thought, fists clenching. _'I will show them how strong I am. How strong your teachings made me.'_

Ichigo scowled. _'He wants me to fight him, huh. What's his game?'_ "What would you gain from fighting me?" he asked coolly. "I would show the strength of my race." Ishida said simply. The strawberry's eyes narrowed. _'The strength of his race? Is that it? He just wants to fight me for the sake of his stupid pride?'_ He scowled. "Why the hell would I fight you just so you can inflate your ego?" he yelled.

Uryu's eyebrow was twitching rapidly. "I want you to fight me so that no one forgets the power of the quincy!" he shouted back furiously.

"There's no way I'll do that!"

"I guess you're a coward then!"

"What did you just say?"

"I said you're a coward! You know, C-O-W-A-R-D!"

"Okay that's it!" Ichigo roared. "You're on! I'll fight you here and now!" this four-eyed bastard wanted to fight him? Fine!

Said 'four-eyed bastard' smiled grimly. "Won't you need to transform first?" he taunted as his bow burst into existence. "Such an inconvenience, always requiring Kuchiki's help to transform. How sad." Ichigo smirked back, putting the quincy on edge.

"I don't need her help when I have this!" he roared. Triumphantly pulling from his pants pocket, a gasping stuffed lion toy.

"Dammit Ichigo! I couldn't breather in there!" It shouted through heaves of air. Uryu sweat-dropped. What the hell was that thing?

"A toy?" he asked slowly.

"I'm not a TOY!" It screamed, paws flailing wildly. "My name is Kon! I'm a mod-soul!"

Ichigo held up the toy, looking like he'd just won the lottery. "And that's how I'll fight you! Like this!" There was a flash of light, forcing Uryu to cover his eyes to avoid turning blind as it continued.

When it was done he was greeted to a peculiar sight. There were two Ichigo's! One in his familiar black hakama, holding that oversized katana out, a sheath on his back. And the other was still in his school uniform, scowling at Uryu.

He was pretty sure he heard "Not a damn toy" from the one in the school uniform.

"So that creature inhabits your body Kurosaki," he stated. Ichigo merely nodded, prepared to attack. He was about to spring when Ishida held up a forestalling palm. "I have an idea," he began smoothly, reaching into his shirt pocket. "Let's have a contest. Whoever kills the most hollows wins." he withdrew a small, colorless, coin-shaped disk, and crushed it in his hand.

"What did you do?" Ichigo demanded. Why withdraw an object just to break it? Something was wrong here.

"That was hollow bait," Uryu answered calmly, causing Ichigo's eyes to widen in horror. "Soon hollows will be swarming all over the place. Kill as many as you can Ichigo Kurosaki." He nocked a reishi arrow out of nowhere, causing Ichigo to tense in preparation to dodge, before whirling around and shooting, piercing through the approaching hollow's mask.

The shinigami turned to Kon. "Get out of here and hurry home. Make sure my sister's are safe!" The mod-soul nodded grimly and began sprinting towards the Kurosaki Clinic. Ichigo pointed his zanpakuto at Uryu furiously. "Do you know what you've done!" he roared.

"Of course," the quincy replied coldly. "I've set hollows among Karakura Town. They'll be sure to go after those with higher reiatsu levels first."

Ichigo froze with horror. _'Karin, Yuzu.'_

* * *

"Do you feel that?" Rukia held out a hand, signaling Naruto to stop. "This reiatsu," she muttered. "It feels like hollows, lots of them!" She turned to Naruto, her eyes wide with fear. "We have to do something!" The blond's eyes widened as he realized how freaked out she was._ 'Rukia's about to lose it.'_

He kneeled down, laying a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "Calm down," Naruto murmured quietly. Rukia's breathing began slowing down. "You need to relax." She nodded as her panic began to vanish.

"You've been running yourself ragged. Helping us all the time, along with this quincy business and now this. You. Must. Calm. Down." Naruto stated firmly. Rukia gasped as she felt his arms encircle her in a comforting hug. _'This . . . feels nice,'_ she thought dreamily as he held her.

"kia? Rukia? You there?" She jumped as she realized he wasn't holding her anymore. Strangely, she felt a sense of disappointment. 'Why do I feel like I've lost something?' she wondered.

Naruto felt his eyebrows raising at the way she was staring into space. Trying to return her to reality, he waved his hand in front of her face, calling her name until she finally noticed. "Um ,Rukia?" he asked slowly. "Could you help me now?"

She shook here head to clear her mind. _'Focus!'_ she shouted mentally. "Yeah! I got it!" she withdrew that peculiar glove of hers and whacked Naruto upside his head, causing his shinigami form to emerge as his body slumped to the ground.

Naruto slowly drew his zanpakuto as he whirled around, blocking a talon. Swinging the blade he pushed the limb aside and dived forward, dragging his zanpakuto along the hollow's arm in a long arc.

The hollow snarled as it swung it's uninjured limb, but the blond shinigami jumped over the blow. Flipping through the air, he spun until he was right-side-up, gripping the handle of his zanpakuto with both hands he swung down as hard as he could, cleaving the hollow in half as he landed behind the dead creature, flicking the blood off of his zanpakuto.

Rukia gawked. Since when had Naruto gotten so good? Usually he was just a hack and slash fighter. Mostly attack or defense, not much finesse. But the way he'd slain that hollow was incredible. _'Beautiful,'_ she thought. It had this strange feral quality to it. Brutal like nature, yet at the same time having a strange beauty. A fierce beauty.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Naruto looked back at her and grinned, throwing a thumbs up. He was so cheesy, who gave thumbs up anymore? but it still made her smile anyways.

"Hey Rukia, could you make sure my body stays safe? I don't have a mod-soul like Ichigo does." She just nodded. Slowly picking up his unmoving body as Naruto watched for any hollow that might try an ambush.

Rukia held his arm over her shoulders as she half-carried half-dragged his body towards a safe place. "I'll make sure you're body doesn't get hurt!" she called over her shoulder.

Naruto nodded, waiting until she turned a corner, disappearing from sight. He brandished his zanpakuto as no less than forty hollows of all shapes and sizes surrounded him. All having the same expression through their masks, intense hunger.

Naruto roguishly grinned as he gripped his zanapkuto tightly. "You know, this party's getting crazy!" He held his sword to the side as his grin turned ferocious. "Let's rock!"

He charged with a roar.

"I'll make sure your body's safe Naruto." Rukia promised as she continued dragging his body across the town.

* * *

Ichigo scowled as he slew his thirty-fourth hollow. Whirling around, he searched until he realized every hollow in the are was already defeated.

_'It's safe now. At least for Karin,'_ he thought grimly. He had seen his sister around here somewhere, but the place had been filled with hollows then. Frantic, he had slain every single one in his way until there was a clear path to their home. _'She must have slipped away while I was fighting.'_ He tried to fight down his fear. _'Between me and Ishida, these hollows should be no problem. Even less with Naruto in the mix,'_ he reasoned.

Either way he had to know. Sprinting as fast as he could, he made his way towards the clinic, cutting down any hollow who stood in his way until he saw a hollow get sent flying, a reishi arrow through it's mask. Realizing it was Uryu, he ran even faster to find the quincy slaying hollows left and right with his bow.

In front of Ichigo's house.

_'Of course their attention would be on my family,'_ he thought with a sweat-drop.

* * *

Uryu continued shooting his arrows, slaying hollow after hollow. _'This is getting tiresome.'_

Indeed it was, he'd only killed twenty-nine hollows so far. The last time he saw Kurosaki, the orange-haired shinigami had already killed thirty-one! And he was defending the shinigami's family on top. It was completely unfair! Kurosaki could move while he was stuck in one location!

He sighed as he let another arrow fly, watching as it pierced a hollows shoulder. The creature howled as it charged the quincy, rage apparent in it's eyes. He nocked another arrow, just about to let it fly when . . .

**Shing!**

A blade was suddenly visible on the ground, just in front of the hollow. the creature froze it's arms going limp as a nasty retching sound filled his ears and the hollow split completely in half vertically.

And in it's place stood Ichigo Kurosaki.

Uryu immediately fired an arrow at the orange-haired shinigami. To his disappointment, Ichigo blocked it with his zanpakuto easily.

"Hey jackass!" He shouted at the quincy. "This fight is supposed to be between the two of us! It doesn't matter how many hollows we can kill!"

Uryu ignored him as he felt a surge of hollow reiatsu coming from above. Looking up, he noticed a crack appearing in the sky. "Look at that," he began firing at it as hollows began pouring out, causing Ichigo to begin slashing at the hollows who managed to land without being shot.

Ichigo ducked under a swipe, growling as a claw made a small gash on his shoulder. He stabbed the offender and jumped towards Uryu.

Landing next to the quincy he scowled at his newfound rival. "There are too many of them to fight alone. We need to work together if we're gonna stand a chance!" Uryu gave him a disdainful look. "Are you afraid?" he demanded arrogantly before jumping towards some hollows.

"That's not it at all!" Ichigo roared after him. "Damn it," he muttered angrily, before following the quincy.

It was a blur as he fought. Act and react. Attack, defend, and evade. The hollows were relentless, aggressive and savage. They attacked without hesitation, never stopping, when he slew one another took it's place.

Abruptly he found himself back to back with Ishida, surrounded by hollows. "Look," he snapped. "I don't care whether the shinigami or the quincy were right or wrong before, it doesn't matter now. But you're going about this all wrong!" he shouted angrily.

"I believed the shinigami were correct when I found out," Uryu said venomously, causing Ichigo's eyes to widen. "But that changed when my sensei was killed. He believed in working together as well. He tried to convince you shinigami," he spat the word 'shinigami' like a curse. "But you all wouldn't listen because you believed yourselves superior. And he was killed by a group of massive hollows, alone."

"Proving the strength of the quincy to you shinigami is all I can do now," he finished quietly.

The strawberry sighed. _'So that's his reason.'_

"You realize that if your sensei's wish was for the shinigami and quincy to work together, then you would be fulfilling his wish by helping me," he asked. Sidestepping a blow, he killed the attacker swiftly. "Well?" he demanded.

Uryu shot an arrow through a hollow's eye. "Fine."

And they begrudgingly went to work. Uryu shooting as swiftly as he could, and Ichigo killing any hollows that got too close.

And the world blurred as the battle continued.

* * *

"On the left!"

"Duck!"

He's that way!"

In an abandoned street corner you could hear Karin Kurosaki's yells to Yasutora Sado as he dodged blows he couldn't see.

After escaping from those weird monsters Karin had found a gigantic one-armed monster practically waiting for her. The creature called itself Bulbous G, and had proceeded to chase her for three straight blocks until she met Yasutora, or as everyone called him, Chad.

Chad had realized someone was wrong, and after Karin had informed him of the situation, had asked for instructions on Bulbous G's location, and by using Karin as his eyes, as he couldn't see the hollow, began actually fighting the monster.

Chad threw a hard jab before diving to the side after hearing Karin's call. Just in time too, as the ground where he had previously been standing was crushed like glass.

_'That was close,'_ he thought as he continued to battle._ 'He's powerful, this thing. His blows are so powerful, one hit and I'd be dead.'_ Strangely his thoughts turned to when he was a child. How he got into fights, how other kids feared his fists._ 'Then there was that day,'_ he recalled.

There was a girl being bullied. Immediately a white hot anger surged in his belly as he watched. Four boys were picking on her, pulling her hair, calling her names. When one pushed her down she began to cry. Chad snapped then, charging up there he crashed into one boy, knocking him over. They were no match for his anger, and soon they were sent away, bruised and battered.

Chad had helped the girl up and asked if she was alright. He asked for name after making sure she wasn't hurt. She said her name was Emiko. He'd smiled, and introduced himself. Emiko had smiled back, and told him she liked his name, both of them.

Her smile had made him feel strange, like his stomach was burning. They'd become friends that day, and were incredibly close until he moved away.

He never saw Emiko again.

Right now, as he fought Bulbous G, the words Emiko had told him reverberated through his mind. _'Thank you for protecting me.'_

_'Protect.'_ Suddenly reiatsu began emitting from his right arm, causing both Karin and Bulbous G to stare at him.

_'These fists were meant for protecting those I care about!'_ An explosion of reiatsu suddenly blinded the pair. "Chad!" Karin screamed, fearful for his life. Was he dead? Had the monster done something to him?

The light suddenly vanished, and as Chad was revealed she gasped.

He was standing tall, facing Bulbous G with pure determination._ 'He could see him now,'_ she realized. But that wasn't what shocked her.

Chad's right arm was completely different! It was completely covered in black and red armor from the shoulder to his very fingers. It was completely black with a red line running down the center of his shoulder going all the way to the top of his palm. On his shoulders were protrusions sticking straight up with a split in the middle, with two winglike protrusions on his wrists.

"Brazo Derecha de Gigante,"(Right Arm of the Giant) he spoke, startling Karin out of her reverie.

Chad hefted his new arm. He could feel the power flowing through it, flowing through him. And he could see Bulbous G!

"Now you die," he said softly.

"Yeah ri-," was all the hollow could manage as Chad's fist obliterated it's face. The giant japanese-mexican flicked the blood off of his arm as Bulbous G's body disintegrated.

And then he slumped toward the ground. His new arm reverting to it's original state. As he began losing consciousness his thoughts swam. _'What is this power? And how did I get it?_' he wondered.

_'Ah well, at least I could protect Ichigo's sister,'_ he thought contently.

And everything faded to black.

* * *

Orihime was in trouble.

She and her friend Tatsuki Arisawa were in the gym after school. Tatsuki because she wanted to practice her martial arts, Orihime because she really had nothing else to do.

Things had been simple. Tatsuki practicing while Orihime cheered, but then everything went to hell. A bunch of students looking sickly and twisted had walked in and begun attacking the pair, forcing Tatsuki to defend them both. Things got even worse when a taunting voice began egging the puppets and attacking the pair as well.

Now even Tatsuki was being used like a puppet, among others. But it was her face that caught Orihime's attention.

She was in tears.

To Orihime it was horrifying. Tatsuki had always been the pillar of strength, hard, unmovable, and always the shoulder for her to lean on. To see her crying made the redhead's own tears begin to fall. _'Tatsuki,' _she pleaded mentally._ 'Please don't cry.'_

Her mind flashed back to her elementary school days, when Orihime was bullied for the color of her hair. People called her all sorts of names. Freak, weirdo, fruitcake. Their words were always cruel, and they never failed to hurt the girl's feelings.

_'But It was Tatsuki that saved me,' _she recalled. Back then her friend had always come to the rescue, chasing the bullies away without fail. _'She was always looking out for me, even then.'_Remembering that made the redhead smile, and the desire for her best friend's tears to stop increased tenfold as a strange feeling grew within her.

_'You've always protected me Tatsuki,' _she thought fondly. _'Now it's my turn to protect you.'_

"Well now's your chance!"

Shocked, Orihime looked around for mysterious voice. It definitely wasn't the mean one, but who was it?

"Up here lady!"

The 'lady' jumped in surprise, turned her gaze upward, and gasped. Floating above her, were six tiny humanoid figures with wings on their backs. They were . . . fairies? "Who are you?" she asked, confused. They were very strange looking for fairies. One was a female with short black hair and a pink kimono, and had a dress larger than she was on her head for some reason. Another woman had bright pink hair in three buns along with a white bodysuit and yellow racing goggles over her eyes. The next woman had pale blond hair with a ponytail sticking up and leaning to the right side of her head, oh wait, that was a guy.

Another male was far easier to notice as male. Due to his buzz cut blond hair, massively muscular physique, and the mask covering the lower half of his face. The next was a man with a scar over his left eye and a large eyepatch to cover it. He was dressed in a flamboyant purple bodysuit as well. Maybe he wanted to draw attention away from his baldness?

And the last one had black spiky hair slightly reminiscent of Ichigo. He had on an entirely black bodysuit along with a white cloth covering his mouth. His eyes were stormy grey and gave him the appearance of someone who was perpetually grouchy.

"I'm Ayame!" the dress wearer chriped.

"Baigon," the half-masked one grunted.

"Call me Hinagiku," the bald one said.

"Lily," the pinkette announced.

"My name is Shun'o," the effeminate boy smiled at Orihime.

"Tsubaki," the dark-haired one muttered.

Orihime smiled at them. "I'm Orihime!" she announced before she became confused again. "So could you tell me why you're here exactly?" she asked.

Lily swooped down so she was face-to-face with the redhead. "In a sense Orihime, we're you," she answered. The girls eyes widened before Lily continued her explanation. "You're determination to protect Tatsuki awakened us, before we were dormant inside of you as your spirit." Suddenly she turned serious. "Everyone is being controlled by an invisible monster. Now that you've managed to awaken us, you can see it. You'll need to defeat it okay?"

Orihime nodded. She normally would have been scared or panicked, but now she was calm and collected. Even as she faced the hollow that was responisble for her friend's pain, a hideous gigantic squid creature, she felt no fear.

She raised her hands toward the hollow slowly as it watched her curiously. "Koten Zanshun!" she yelled. Suddenly Tsubaki burst forward, surrounded by golden light as he appeared as a black and red winged creature flying towards the stunned monster. Before it could react Tsubki struck, cleaving it in half cleanly.

Her eyes widened as she saw the monster disintegrate into nothingness, barely noticing the fairies disappear with a small flash, the light fading into her hairpins.

Suddenly Orihime felt weak at the knees. She stumbled until she fell on all fours. _'I'm tired.'_

Her eyelids slowly closed as she fell unconscious like everyone else in they gym. A phrase repeating itself in her mind over and over as her vision darkened.

_'Shun Shun Rikka'_

* * *

Well that's it, the next chapter is gonna finish this part and that's when things are gonna get_ really _interesting_._

Review, review, review!

Bye!


	4. HIATUS

Sorry guys but my life has gotten truly chaotic so this story's gonna be hiatus for a while.


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